Penguins of the World: Threats and Solutions

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, most penguin species are in decline. Although penguins share many characteristics, the threats they face vary according to colony location, contact with humans and other predators, and dependence on sea ice.

This interactive shows where each of the 18 species of penguin lives, the threats they face, and how to find solutions to help save these important sentinels of ocean health.

Penguins serve as marine sentinels because the health of their populations signals changing conditions in the ocean and on land. The 18 penguin species are affected by environmental pressures with varying intensity. Here you can see each species, its population size, and the threats it faces, plus its International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) ranking, based on factors such as population trajectory, geographic range, and current population size.

Emperor (Aptenodytes forsteri)

Native to Antarctica, emperors breed on compacted ice on the continent and its coast, and some trek up to 75 miles across the ice to forage for food. They are the only penguin species that breeds during the Antarctic winter. They are arguably the most famous penguin species, in part because of their starring role in the computer-animated film “Happy Feet” (2006) and the documentary “March of the Penguins” (2005).

Population:

238,000 breeding pairs1

Pressing threat(s):

Climate change and diminished and dispersed prey

IUCN status:

Near Threatened

Recommendation(s):

Establish protections for foraging and breeding habitat

King (Aptenodytes patagonicus)

Kings breed on sub-Antarctic and temperate islands. They do not build nests. Instead, the adults balance eggs on their feet and incubate them using a brood patch, an area of featherless skin located on the abdomen.

Population:

1.6 million breeding pairs2

Pressing threat(s):

Fisheries pressure

IUCN status:

Least Concern

Recommendation(s):

Establish protections for foraging habitat

Adélie (Pygoscelis adeliae)

The Adélie is native to Antarctica, with the largest breeding colonies in the Ross Sea, along the coast of the Antarctic continent, on the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, and on the islands of the Scotia Arc. Adélies hunt around and rest on sea ice but need ice-free land to breed. They often nest in very large colonies of up to 200,000 pairs.

Population:

2.37 million breeding pairs3

Pressing threat(s):

Climate change

IUCN status:

Near Threatened

Recommendation(s):

Establish protections for foraging habitat

Chinstrap (Pygoscelis adeliae)

Primarily located in the waters around the South Sandwich Islands, chinstraps may rest on large icebergs, but they nest on barren islands. They are easily identifiable by a conspicuous black line running from ear to ear under the chin.

Population:

4 million breeding pairs4

Pressing threat(s):

Climate change

IUCN status:

Least Concern

Recommendation(s):

Establish protections for foraging habitat

Gentoo (Pygoscelis papua)

Gentoos nest primarily on sub-Antarctic islands. They are the most adaptable penguins, able to colonize new breeding habitat that is becoming available because of snow and ice melt caused by climate change.

Population:

387,000 breeding pairs5

Pressing threat(s):

Fisheries pressure and overfishing

IUCN status:

Near Threatened

Recommendation(s):

Establish protections for foraging habitat

Yellow-eyed (Megadyptes antipodes)

Yellow-eyed penguins live in New Zealand on South Island, Stewart Island, and the adjacent Auckland and Campbell Islands. Unlike most Antarctic penguins, yellow-eyed penguins do not nest within sight of each other. Although they can be seen coming ashore in groups of four to six or more, they then disperse into dense forests to individual nest sites.

Population:

About 1,700 breeding pairs6

Pressing threat(s):

Habitat degradation and invasive predators

IUCN status:

Endangered

Recommendation(s):

Establish protections for foraging habitat

Southern rockhopper (Eudyptes chrysocome)

This species is circumpolar, breeding on sub-Antarctic and temperate islands in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans. Males will forage up to 500 kilometers (310 miles) from the breeding site.

Population:

1.2 million breeding pairs7

Pressing threat(s):

Climate change, pollution, and habitat degradation

IUCN status:

Vulnerable

Recommendation(s):

Establish protections for breeding and foraging habitat

Northern rockhopper (Eudyptes moseleyi)

Northern rockhopper penguins live on the Tristan da Cunha islands and on Gough Island in the central South Atlantic Ocean, and on Amsterdam and St. Paul islands in the Indian Ocean. Scientists classified them as a separate species from the more abundant southern rockhopper penguins because of clear differences in their appearance, sounds, and breeding behavior. Recent analysis of DNA indicates that the two species developed more than 680,000 years ago.

Population:

265,000 breeding pairs8

Pressing threat(s):

Habitat degradation

IUCN status:

Endangered

Recommendation(s):

Establish protections for breeding habitat

Erect-crested (Eudyptes sclateri)

This species lives on the islands south and southeast of New Zealand, and most of the population breeds on the Bounty and Antipodes Islands. A female lays two eggs, but the second is up to 85 percent larger than the first and is typically the only one that survives.

Population:

Pressing threat(s):

IUCN status:

Recommendation(s):

Conduct further research to determine cause of declines, and establish protections for breeding habitat

Fiordland (Eudyptes pachyrhynchus)

New Zealand's South, Solander, Codfish, and Stewart islands are home to fiordland penguins. They nest in diverse places, such as temperate rain forests, sea caves, and rocky shorelines.

Population:

2,500 to 3,000 breeding pairs10

Pressing threat(s):

Introduced predators

IUCN status:

Vulnerable

Recommendation(s):

Establish protections for breeding and foraging habitat

Snares (Eudyptes pachyrhynchus)

Snares penguins are native to the Snares archipelago, about 200 kilometers (124 miles) south of New Zealand. They are an indigenous species that has significant cultural and spiritual value to the Polynesian people of New Zealand, the Mãori.

Population:

26,000 to 31,000 breeding pairs11

Pressing threat(s):

Climate change, fisheries pressure and overfishing, and pollution.

IUCN status:

Vulnerable

Recommendation(s):

Establish protections for breeding and foraging habitat

Macaroni (Eudyptes pachyrhynchus)

Macaronis are found in southern Chile, the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, and the South Orkney Islands. They also occupy some of the Antarctic Peninsula. Satellite imagery shows unidentified penguin colonies on the fresh lava flows of McDonald Island, part of a volcanic group of barren Antarctic islands. Scientists believe these may be recolonizing macaroni penguins.

Population:

6.3 million breeding pairs12

Pressing threat(s):

Climate change, introduced predators, and disease.

IUCN status:

Vulnerable

Recommendation(s):

Establish protections for breeding and foraging habitat

Royal (Eudyptes schlegeli)

Royal penguins breed exclusively on Macquarie Island and the Clerk and Bishop Islets southwest of New Zealand, an area less than 100 square kilometers (38 square miles). Nonbreeding penguins have been seen in areas ranging from Australia to parts of Antarctica. Albino royals, which are grayish-yellow in color instead of black, are occasionally seen.

Population:

500,000 breeding pairs13

Pressing threat(s):

Climate change, pollution, and introduced predators.

IUCN status:

Vulnerable

Recommendation(s):

Establish protections for breeding and foraging habitat

African (Spheniscus demersus)

Breeding colonies exist in three regions along the southwestern coast of Africa: Namibia in the north and South Africa's Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces in the south. Breeding is mostly monogamous&emdash;on South Africa's St. Croix Island, scientists found that up to 92 percent of the penguins breed with the same mate the next season.

Population:

26,000 breeding pairs14

Pressing threat(s):

Climate change, fisheries pressure and overfishing, and pollution.

IUCN status:

Endangered

Recommendation(s):

Establish protections for breeding and foraging habitat

Magellanic (Spheniscus magellanicus)

Magellanic penguins live on the southern coasts of South America, from central Argentina to central Chile. They migrate long distances, swimming up to 16,000 kilometers (10,000 miles) per year.

Population:

1.3 million breeding pairs15

Pressing threat(s):

Climate change, fisheries pressure and overfishing, and pollution.

IUCN status:

Near Threatened

Recommendation(s):

Establish protections for breeding and foraging habitat

Humboldt (Spheniscus humboldti)

Humboldt penguins are found on the coasts of Chile and Peru in the region of the Humboldt Current. They must eat at least 340 to 600 grams (12 to 21 ounces) of anchovies every day to replenish the energy they use to find the food.

IUCN status:

Recommendation(s):

Galápagos (Spheniscus mendiculus)

These penguins are native to the Galápagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador. They live farther north than any other penguin and are the only species to cross occasionally into the Northern Hemisphere.

Population:

1,500 to 4,700 breeding pairs17

Pressing threat(s):

Climate change and introduced predators.

IUCN status:

Endangered

Recommendation(s):

Establish protections for breeding and foraging habitat

Little (blue or fairy) (Eudyptula minor)

Little penguins live along the coastline of New Zealand, the Chatham Islands, Tasmania, and southern Australia. These birds are the smallest of the penguin species, measuring approximately 33 centimeters (13 inches) in height and weighing 1 kilogram (2 pounds).

Population:

300,000 breeding pairs18

Pressing threat(s):

Introduced predators, pollution, and habitat degradation.

IUCN status:

Least Concern

Recommendation(s):

Establish protections for breeding and foraging habitat

Endnotes

1 International Union for Conservation of Nature, Red List of Threatened Species, accessed March 14, 2014, http://www.iucnredlist.org. IUCN Red List information for specific penguin species can be obtained by entering the scientific name in the search field "Enter Red List search term(s)."

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